Hi Volker,
Just a couple more comments concerning the latest translation process!
You asked if you can "lock" an envelope. Not really, you can "seal" it, but you can't lock" it, at least not literally -- but of course you can do almost anything figuratively, right! Actually, though, I thought Poulin's use of "sheath" was a very good botanical choice, and I did find it listed in the dictionary as one of the definitions for "Hülle."
Now, concerning "die Langsamkeiten des Sterbens," you ask "what about a sudden death? I didn't understand at first, but now I see what you meant by "the lengths of death." Actually though, I don't think he is talking about the "speed" of death itself (when you actually die - whether it be a sudden death as with an accident or a slow death as with cancer), but rather I think he is talking about the lifelong process of death/dying - the fact that we start dying the day we are born! I had to read this paragraph several times before it finally occurred to me what he was trying to say and how he was comparing the slowness of the rose's birth (being born) to the slowness of our lifelong death process - Thus, he is saying that we die (over the many years) as slowly as the rose is born (slowly considering a rose's lifespan!)
Concerning the word "unzählbar," I had difficulty understanding this line also. In a literal sense, you wouldn't describe the state you are in as "numberless, countless, or uncountable," although that does seem to be what he is saying in the German - it must be a play on words in either the French or German because it doesn't sound right in English. Endless makes a lot more sense, and I think that is probably what he meant, but he wanted to confuse us with words!
Yes, Poulin is probably a Frenchman (sounds like it), but to tell you the truth, I don't know for sure. I haven't had the book long, and I didn't take the time to read anything about the author - I just jumped right into the poems! And sadly, to my knowledge, Rilke did not write any poems in English. How I wish (for my sake!) that he had!
He did, however, translate a number of English poems into German, so he must have had a fairly good grasp of the English language.
Here is one of Elizabeth Barret-Browning's poems that he translated:
Wie ich dich liebe? Laß mich zählen wie.
Ich liebe dich so tief, so hoch, so weit,
als meine Seele blindlings reicht, wenn sie
ihr Dasein abfühlt und die Ewigkeit.
Ich liebe dich bis zu dem stillsten Stand,
den jeder Tag erreicht im Lampenschein
oder in Sonne. Frei, im Recht, und rein
wie jene, die vom Ruhm sich abgewandt.
Mit aller Leidenschaft der Leidenszeit
und mit der Kindheit Kraft, die fort war, seit
ich meine Heiligen nicht mehr geliebt.
Mit allem Lächeln, aller Tränennot
und allem Atem. Und wenn Gott es giebt,
will ich dich besser lieben nach dem Tod.
Translated by Rainer Maria Rilke, 1908
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Barret-Browning, 1850
Viele Grüße, Linda